Explanation of Proposition

This article explains in detail the individual factors that make up the provider's proposition, including:

Technology

Physical properties

Waiting time for treatment

Reputation of the provider

Convenience

Ongoing support

Personal choice

Personal beliefs

It also explains which factors play the most significant role (i.e. core reasons) in an individual decision and why.

Order of Importance of Propositional Factors

Order will differ from individual to individual, and from era to era. The order used here is for the following reasons:

1. Technology is at the top, because:

This is what the individual will “take away with them” and be using in their daily lives.

It is the technology that solves their main problem, a reduction in hearing. Everything else plays a support role in getting that technology to do its job.

All the other factors cannot exist without the technology.

2. Physical properties is second, because:

This is what the individual will “take away with them” and be using in their daily lives.

It is one of the factors that is foremost in people’s minds: how will it change my life? What will I look like wearing it and how will people react to that? Will I be able to handle it?

3. Waiting times is third, because:

If someone has made the decision to treat a reduction in hearing, they have often reached the point where it affects them enough to want to do something more quickly because they’re already imagining how it will improve their lives and are conscious of the difficulties they have without it.

4. Reputation of the provider:

This can be a positive reputation, negative reputation or a neutral reputation. Having never heard of a provider is better than hearing bad things about a provider. But hearing positive things may even increase the importance of a provider’s reputation in the decision process: word of mouth counts.

5. Convenience comes before the remaining factors, because:

it is to do with the actual initial provision itself, so is more immediate in people’s minds. If a provider is miles away and they can’t easily get to them, it doesn’t matter how good their reputation is. If someone is housebound, and they are the only provider to offer home visits, this convenience will be an important factor.

6. Ongoing support:

Is only important if something goes wrong (or if someone thinks it may go wrong and are concerned about the consequences).

Many hope the technology will solve all their problems and will never go wrong and think they’ll only need to see the provider again if they notice (sic) their hearing has changed.

7. Personal choice:

May affect the decision if an individual likes to weigh up the pros and cons between providers: if they are the type of person who likes to get more involved.

8. Personal beliefs may, in some cases, guide behaviour.

If they do not believe they should “sponge off the state”, they are less likely to choose an NHS provider.

If they believe that they have paid into the system so it is their right, they may go NHS.

These personal beliefs can be over-riden if the other factors are strong enough: e.g. if the technology is only available privately or they are not eligible for NHS provision.

Sometimes individual factors may be completely irrelevant or unimportant in weighing up the benefits versus the cost. Each factor is therefore additive.

He was involved in design and marketing for 12 years before making the transition into hearing care nearly 12 years ago. He now runs an independent family-run hearing care practice in the United Kingdom and has spoken internationally on shaping the future of hearing care.